Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claim deadly Sinai attack

The group, which has spearheaded an insurgency in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, made the claim in a video posted on social media.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt’s deadliest militant group which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), claimed responsibility for a suicide attack last month that killed 30 soldiers, according to AFP.

The group, which has spearheaded an insurgency in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, made the claim in a video posted on social media, the agency said.

The group has killed scores of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew president Mohammad Mursi last year, but the Oct. 24 attack in which a militant rammed a military checkpoint in northern Sinai with an explosives-packed car was the deadliest such incident in years.

It said it was acting in retaliation for a crackdown on Islamist supporters following Mursi’s removal from power.

At least 1,400 people have been killed in the crackdown, while more than 15,000 have been jailed and hundreds sentenced to death.

In the video, the group promises further attacks against the security forces and said it was speaking directly to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who toppled Mursi and unleashed a crackdown on Islamists.

Earlier this week, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledged its allegiance to the ISIS in a bid to boost recruitment and bolster its fight against the Egyptian army, according to analysts.